Statesboro High School's Architecture & Construction students won first place overall at the Southeast Georgia Skills Challenge held Thursday at the Bulloch County Agricultural Complex in Statesboro. 

SHS students who are members of the school's SkillsUSA chapter came out on top against 15 area high schools that had come to compete in blueprint reading, carpentry, electrical, heavy machinery, masonry, plumbing, roofing and welding. 

The following Statesboro students also earned individual awards and will now advance to the SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Competition in February 2024: Carson Wubbena, first place in carpentry; Jack Blackmon, second place in electrical wiring; Ricky Aquilar, second place in masonry; and Cole Phillips, third place in plumbing.

The Architecture & Construction career cluster at Statesboro High is part of Bulloch County Schools' Career Technical & Agricultural Education program, which consists of 13 different career clusters and 30 career pathways with course offerings that can help develop our future workforce. 

More than 1,500 Bulloch County high school students are enrolled in at least one career pathway course. Learn more at www.careerreadybulloch.org.

The Skills event is hosted annually by the Associated General Contractors of Georgia, Ace Electric, Inc.; Choate Construction Company and West Construction Company. Competitions like the one Thursday at the Ag Complex are held in eight regions across the state. Overall, more than 2,300 students from nearly 100 schools will compete. 

Thursday’s Bulloch County event included students from high school construction programs in the following counties: Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Montgomery, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne and Wheeler.

“Each year, our students work hard to compete at AGC Georgia’s Skills Challenge because it provides an opportunity to highlight their talents,” said Josh Hall, the construction teacher at SHS. “The hands-on and real-world environment creates an atmosphere that our students appreciate and enjoy."

AGC Georgia is a professional trade association and the statewide chapter affiliated with The Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. AGC Georgia member firms perform a majority of the public and private commercial construction work in Georgia. 

“Skills Challenges allow high school students enrolled in construction programs an opportunity to showcase their trade talents in a ‘game day’ atmosphere,” AGC Georgia CEO Mike Dunham said. “For some competitors, this event is a ‘Friday Night Lights’ experience with the opportunity to receive job offers from participating industry representatives. Each year, we are proud to partner with amazing member contracting firms to showcase rewarding construction career opportunities to student competitors and observers.”